Haiti, Wakanda, and Capitalist Realism

It matters very little if one is pro-capitalist or not, for as capitalism has transcended such dualities of pros and cons, the mere act of existing is capitalist…

ALAIN MARTIN

Not too long before writing this piece, trending on Haitian Twitter was the surprising revelation that Haiti had been featured, prominently so, in the latest Disney tentpole, Wakanda Forever. One scene pivotal to advancing the film’s plot took place in Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s former capital. Another featured a character that was not only central to the film but seems poised to hold critical sway in phase 5 of Marvel’s cinematic extravaganza based on their own comics; that character is named Toussaint, an homage to Toussaint L’Ouverture, a seminal figure of the Haitian Revolution. That surprising revelation set off a storm of excitement in the social media world as Haitians heralded the improbable reality of seeing their distressed country in one of the decade’s most anticipated and biggest blockbuster films. It is this excitement and this celebration that reminded me of the late author Mark Fisher and his growing influential concept of Capitalist Realism. If we consider Haiti’s appearance in Wakanda Forever within the context of Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, we duly realize that there is not much to celebrate in the first black country in the Western Hemisphere making an appearance in a Hollywood superhero film. 

Mark Fisher’s ‘Capitalist Realism’ isn’t a criticism of capitalism as it is a sulky reminder that capitalism should no longer be considered simply a mere economic system; it is now a psychological state of being, a way of life that is now entrenched in our very being. It matters very little if one is pro-capitalist or not, for as capitalism has transcended such dualities of pros and cons, the mere act of existing is capitalist, for capitalism has cunningly evolved to integrate even the views of its most formidable opponents within its operating framework. In other words, capitalism is completely capable of offering you, at a profit, that which it has continuously deprived you of. Companionship for the loneliness one feels in the ongoing digitization of human life; a sense of meaning and purpose in an ever-secular society. Mass protests happen on Facebook, as was the case for Occupy Wall Street and it is Twitter that facilitated the international movement that was Black Lives Matter.  It is a system that is equipped with an arsenal of solutions ready to respond to every need, even the need to be pessimistic of the system. 

The legacy of Che Guevara stands as a quintessential example of this. Guevarra, a stalwart opponent of capitalism now finds himself immortalized as an emblem in popular t-shirts sold all over the world. These t-shirts are of course mass produced in factories and the profits derived are for the benefit of a very few.  Another example, provided by Fisher himself, is another Disney Blockbuster film, Wall-E. The film prides itself as a takedown of the corporatization of life and yet was made by a corporation that itself made millions of dollars off the film. 

We are reminded by Fisher that in the current system, that a thing, whether it be a book, or a film, or a secondary education, is only valuable if it can be monetized. Even one’s sense of virtues, of values, of morality overall can be packaged to him to consume for comfort. As such, a criticism of the capitalist system is nothing but an extension of the very system it is criticizing. 

Wakanda Forever, and its predecessor, Black Panther, delighted many critics who saw in the films a searing criticism of colonialism and its ensuing brutalities and wanton destruction.  It only makes sense that the legacy of Haiti would be celebrated in the latest Panther film. Haiti holds the distinction of being the place where the slave class struck the first successful and deafening blow against colonialism. Although the Haitians of then did not have a King T-Challa nor their armies equipped with the futuristic technology of the Wakandians, they were able to overcome the mighty armies of the French to establish the First Nation founded by women and men who were slaves, black slaves at that. The ongoing commentary around the Haitian revolution in a multitude of circles usually limit it to race and the victory of the slaves resonate only through this racial prism, as people take pride in the fact that a black people were able to defeat, resoundingly so, subsequent armies of white men fighting viciously for the preservation of slavery. 

The Haitian Revolution, like all other things in Western Society, exists to be commodified…

ALAIN MARTIN

But the Haitian Revolution was more than that. It was a stand against the profits at all cost approach that dominate our very lives today. It was a bloody battle against the commoditization of one’s life and time, an uncompromising stance against this shallow idea that life itself is only meaningful if it can be reduced to a numerical value having to do with money. The Haitian Revolution embodied the ideas of the Bolshevik Revolution and those of the Cuban Revolution, an entire century before either of those revolutions took place. Haiti making an appearance in a Disney film that is on its way to making a billion dollars at the box office is a depressing reminder that the Revolution has failed to make the necessary dent against colonialism. 

The Haitian Revolution, like all other things in Western Society, exists to be commodified, and we must admit that it is a rather tragic outcome that the legacy of that revolution is an integral part of the larger anti-colonialist message of Wakanda Forever, because Wakanda Forever is a property of the Walt Disney company. Disney’s founder, Walt Disney, is someone whose work betrays him as a troubling individual. In an article by writer Amanda Dobbins in Vulture magazine, a set of disturbing facts are posited against him as not only a racist, but as someone who promoted racism through his films. Mr. Disney played a part in the dissemination of black stereotypes during the latter years of Jim Crow. In the 90’s, Haitian workers were subjected to horrid conditions working in factories producing Pocahontas and Mickey Mouse pajamas, earning meager wages. 

Now, in 2023, the Disney corporation has co-opted the legacy of the ancestors of those working in those factories, packaged it in a blockbuster film and sold it back to Haitians and black persons all over the world, who relish in the accomplishment of the Haitian Revolution. Disney considers our feelings on colonialism, our criticism of their exploitation of human beings, our admiration for the Haitians who overthrew slavery and instead of branding us as enemies of its system, it enlists us as collaborators by corroborating the anti-colonialist ideas we hold against it. In this way, Fisher warns us, we are placated by way of appeasement. Our craving to make a stand against the system is satisfied by consuming that stand in an IMAX screen. 

This is not to say Wakanda Forever should not have featured Haiti in the film. This is simply to remind us that we are all willing or unwilling participants of a system we claim we do not like; it matters very little what we feel about it; we are trapped in it. To make my own film on the United States Occupation of Haiti, I relied on Facebook and Twitter and Google to get the word out and raise the funds necessary. The executives of Facebook and Twitter are not exactly exemplary models of social equity, for they too are in the business of selling virtue, of selling political ideas deemed noble. One of the most enduring criticisms against capitalism is found in Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, and that film itself was partially funded by the Ford Foundation and there exists troubling criticisms of the Ford Foundation for its support of our current prison system. Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War is likewise a potent criticism of the follies of our incessant foreign interventions. It is also a production of the Public Broadcasting Service and the long list of individuals and organizations that it receives funds from continues to invite skepticism. So it is perhaps impossible to celebrate the legacy of the Haitian revolution without making appeasement to that very system once attacked by the slaves of that revolution.

Feature Photo: Smithsonian American Art Museum

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